Microfiber terry?

kevincwelch

kevincwelch

New member
I see these microfiber terry cloth towels on the Rag Company store, and I couldn't find out if those towels were different from the garden variety mf towels we use on our cars or if they are more like the terry cloth towels. When I see the words "terry cloth," I think of woven cotton, which is not microfiber. Are these towels actually mf towels as we want them to be?
 
No, I see them. They say 80/20 and 325 gsm, but the title "microfiber terry towel" is throwing me for a loop, I guess.
 
They are MF but I have not used them on external body paint. I use them on places I would rather not use my good/more expensive towels.

Dave
 
I've thought about buying some GG towels when they were "on sale" at Advance but they're still cheap from TRC or Amazon. Sad thing is, I'm still happy with my Wal-Mart MF's (something "Premium") for most things even after I bought ones that are supposed to be better.
 
To me a terry towel is another term for an all purpose towel or for general cleaning. A MF terry is just an all purpose MF towel. Some can be paint safe but not all are. Read the descriptions carefully and buy from a respectable source. Personally I would not use Walmart towels for paint. From what I remember seeing in the store they are 85/15 blend (very low polyamide content) and the borders were horrible and already falling apart in the new package. Costco MF towels in comparison are much better and cheaper and at least paint safe when new. They get pretty rough after a few washes but at $0.40/towel you can't go wrong there. If you want real detailing towels go with towels Autopia sells, TRC, and MF Tech. GG towels look very well made but IMHO not worth the price. True MF towels can be used for a long time but eventually they do need to be retired eventually. Spending $20 for 3 towels can get pricey down the line and probably financially not feasible for professionals who use hundreds of towels.
 
pheerix said:
To me a terry towel is another term for an all purpose towel or for general cleaning. A MF terry is just an all purpose MF towel. Some can be paint safe but not all are. Read the descriptions carefully and buy from a respectable source. Personally I would not use Walmart towels for paint. From what I remember seeing in the store they are 85/15 blend (very low polyamide content) and the borders were horrible and already falling apart in the new package. Costco MF towels in comparison are much better and cheaper and at least paint safe when new. They get pretty rough after a few washes but at $0.40/towel you can't go wrong there. If you want real detailing towels go with towels Autopia sells, TRC, and MF Tech. GG towels look very well made but IMHO not worth the price. True MF towels can be used for a long time but eventually they do need to be retired eventually. Spending $20 for 3 towels can get pricey down the line and probably financially not feasible for professionals who use hundreds of towels.
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Yes, terry cloth towels are used for general purpose by most people. What makes terry special though is how it's woven. The looped strands actually increase absorbency and (I've seen this debated) the aggressiveness of the cloth.

Microfiber is special because of the split fibers. That, combined with the electrostatic charge and the softness of microfiber, are what causes the towel to pull things off the surface and hold it in the knap of the towel, away from the paint. Obviously, not all towels are split. These include some glass towels, lens cleaning type towels, and (to my knowledge) suede. Those are a different blend and work a bit differently.

So, here's what I don't get:

If the big portion of microfiber comes from splitting the ends of the weave and the major selling point of terry is that the fibers are looped, what is microfiber terry? Is it simply a soft terry weave that doesn't share the split fibers of a normal microfiber or some odd creation that somehow combines both the benefits of the split fibers of microfiber with the weave of a terry.

My personal opinion is that they are worth no more than a good terry towel. However, I have no idea exactly and can't seem to find too much information on the internet.

If anything I said is wrong, please correct me. If anyone has any light to shed on the situation, please let us know.
 
Note that some very highly respected guys have recommended a "more aggressive yet still safe"-type of towel for removing certain LSPs such as M16 and FK1000P (Ron Ketcham actually wanted me to try using terrycloth, and he meant *cotton* terry, for the latter...and he oughta know). A terry/looped towel made of softer-than (typical)-cotton might be just the ticket for applications like that.

Concerned that such towels won't be soft/gentle enough to avoid marring paint? Then CD-test 'em just like anything else that's gonna touch your paint.
 
pheerix,
I have an small assortment of towels right now (literally small) and I'm still trying to find one that, to me, is a good balance of affordability and what I like. I'm new, it'll take a while. Was going to buy some more to try out but bought a bow instead so that will have to wait. The Wal-Mart ones I have actually do pass the CD test but I can't seem to find them any more.

Accumulator,
I actually never thought about that and that's a good point. Maybe if I ever get some FK1000P I'll compare micro vs. terry vs. micro terry and see for myself.
 
RDKC said:
Yes, there was a post deleted.
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There has been a good bit of over reaction posted in this thread. THE POST IN QUESTION WAS NOT DELEATED. A valuable vendor made a very informative post in this thread. As he was a vendor promoting his own product, the post in its entirety was moved into the vendors own sub-forum beginning a thread on that topic. There is no offense intended in a move like this and it was explained to the Poster.

This vendor's sub-forum is where this thread belongs so as to not appear to be SPAM in the general forums but more importantly it's the place where they can promote their products. No one was banned or scolded, simply a matter of having threads in the appropriate place. Moderation was also used to clean up the over reactions in this thread to keep it on topic and flowing smoothly. Those interested in that post, please check Griot's sub-forum. It's worth the read.

If I could suggest one thing it would be for members to make the staff aware when a post is out of place (that happened here) and furthermore don't bring attention to that post in the forum. Once that has happened others will respond, some with ruffled feathers not knowing the whole story. There were actually 9 posts going on about this one post and the Poster, in this thread. Moving the post was an easy fix but cleaning up following posts that reference a post that no longer resides in this thread becomes a challange to keep continuity in the thread. Let the staff know and then leave it be.
 
GearHead_1 said:
If I could suggest one thing it would be for members to make the staff aware when a post is out of place (that happened here) and furthermore don't bring attention to that post in the forum. Once that has happened others will respond, some with ruffled feathers not knowing the whole story. There were actually 9 posts going on about this one post and the Poster, in this thread. Moving the post was an easy fix but cleaning up following posts that reference a post that no longer resides in this thread becomes a challange to keep continuity in the thread. Let the staff know and then leave it be.
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I apologize if I'm one of the accused over reacting parties, GearHead.

I'm also definitely guilty of the above quote. I will take your suggestion and do my best. You guys do a great job, no need to make it any harder than it needs to be. Again, I apologize.

I think I'm going to see if I can shoot an email to TRC or somebody and get an answer. I'm pretty curious now, though I'm still under the assumption it's an unsplit, looped microfiber. If that is the case, might be a little easier to maintain than your typical MF since you won't have to worry as much about frying the ends.
 
If I didn't feel that I have better things to do I'd grab some magnification and good lighting and go look at a bunch of different MFs and my CBT/DFTs (which are "cotton microfiber" according to the MIA Leo).
 
pheerix said:
To me a terry towel is another term for an all purpose towel or for general cleaning. A MF terry is just an all purpose MF towel. Some can be paint safe but not all are. Read the descriptions carefully and buy from a respectable source.
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You were pretty much spot on, pheerix. I emailed TRC yesterday and posed the question. Got a response today that, to sum things up, says they're just they're shorter pile, lower GSM towels. The name was picked to help differentiate between their higher GSM dual-pile towels and to help imply they're an all-purpose towel like a terry towel.

I asked if he minded if I posted his response here. I imagine I'll get a response Monday and will hopefully be able to put it up soon after.
 
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